Mom in the City

Following is my favorite mom poem of the moment: 

Prettiest Mom

Before I was a Mom

I never tripped over toys or forgot words to a lullaby.

I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom

I never held down a screaming child so doctors could do tests.

Or give shots.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom

I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put him down.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom -

I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

Before I was a Mom -

I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay.

I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,

the wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much, before I was a Mom.
-Author Unknown

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Posted by kdc521 at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

-For the baker mom: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book is written by Melissa Murphy of Sweet Melissa Patisseries in Brooklyn.  They were rated "Best Tarts and Pies in NY" by Zagat 2006.

-For the fitness mom: The New Rules of Lifting for Women: Lift Like a Man, Look Like a Goddess, by fitness experts Lou Schuler & Cassandra Forsythe, shows women how to get in shape through strength training.

-For the new mom: Baby Signing by Andrea Fixell & Ted Stafford, shows moms how to talk with their baby without words.  Baby Massage by Suzanne Reese, shows moms how to calm their baby with soothing, loving touch. (Check back in June - we will be giving these two books away!)

 

-For the handy mom: Chix Can Fix by Norma Vally has 100 home improvement projects. 

 

Posted by kdc521 at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since May is "National Physical Fitness and Sports Month", I thought that NYC locals might be interested in the following free (or low cost) programs offered by the Parks Department:

-Step Out New York City: This is a free walking program for all ages which is held at many locations throughout the city. During the spring, walks take place on Saturday mornings. During the summer, walks take place on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well as Saturday mornings. Visit here for 2008 updates.

-Shape Up New York: This is a free nutrition and fitness program for the entire family. Held throughout the year, these one hour classes and activities encourage the development of healthy lifestyles by showing participants easy and fun ways to exercise and eat well. The professionally led classes include cycling, walking and stretching along with direction on preparing healthy snacks and meals. Visit here for locations and schedules.

-Recreation Centers: I’ve mentioned these gems before.  They offer a variety of services to facilitate healthy living including indoor pools, weight rooms, basketball courts, dance studios, boxing rings and a variety of classes including aerobics and dancing.  Membership for young people (under 18) is free. Two centers with good reputations are Sunset Park (7th Avenue at 43rd Street in Brooklyn) and Tony Dapolito (3 Clarkson Street in Manhattan). You can find a comprehensive list of facilities here. 

-Swim Programs: There are a variety of free aquatic programs for all ages and levels offered by the Parks Department. After school swimming lessons are offered for children ages 6-14 at several pools. Children are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Free Saturday swim classes are also offered to ages three to adults of all ages. Once again, participants are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.  Lastly, the Parks also has a swim-team training program for young people (6 to 18 years old) who can swim 25+ yards. For more information about Parks' swim programs, call Parks Citywide Aquatics at (718) 760-6969. 

Posted by kdc521 at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your kids are interested in Fisher Price's Planet Heroes (like my son Michael), be sure to sign up to receive their new dvd, Here Comes the Sun, by mail here.  (You can also view the full dvd online.)

Posted by kdc521 at 08:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Save the Children released its ninth annual Mothers' Index today.  Guess what?  The United States isn't in the top 10, which I found to be really surprising.  The index, which ranks the best and worst places to be a mother and a child, ranked the United States as 27th (we were #26 last year).  Not surprisingly, the top slots were held by Nordic countries.  To read more and view a multimedia presentation, go here. 

Posted by kdc521 at 01:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by kdc521 at 03:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal "A Final Farewell" that had me in tears.  It's about Dr. Randy Pausch, a 47-year-old college professor who's dying of pancreatic cancer.  Previously, he had given a popular lecture about life to students.  The article discusses his life since his lecture and how he and his family are dealing with his diagnosis.

I think the thing that makes me weep when I read/see things like this is that as a wife and mom, I think "how would I handle this if it was my reality?"  Dr. Pausch has a wife and three children, ages 6, 3, and 1.  If you read the article, you'll be touched by how he's preparing for his kids' emotional future.  You will also feel for both him and his wife as they anticipate the life that they won't be able to share together as planned.

At the end of the day, I believe that God doesn't give us more than we can bear.  However, life (both mines and others) has shown me that I can bear more than I think.  So, I always go away from these articles focusing on living each day to the full, because truthfully "tomorrow" is not promised to any of us.  (That reality is just all the more obvious when people have specific medical diagnosis.)

In any event, if you need a good cry, read the article/watch the video.

Posted by kdc521 at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My husband keeps asking me what I want for Mother's Day and my birthday.  I keep telling him "nothing but the blog redesign".  That's not good enough for him though.  (Here's the back-story: Last year, I had a special day that I didn't want any gifts for, so he didn't get me anything.  Another guy friend of mines got me a special gift for that day though.  Since then, my husband wants to make sure that he's not "upstaged" by anyone else.  He's so cute!)  So, I told him that I'd put a list on my blog (for him, family and close friends).  That way, I don't have to keep answering the question.  (The great thing about lists for me is that once I do one, it lasts for the whole year through Christmas.)  So, here you go honey...my top twelve Mother's Day/ birthday/Christmas '08 list:

-A blog redesign (by Karen of Swank Web Style)
-A Flip video camera
-Wii Fit
-A new digital camera (ours keeps dying at the most inopportune times!)
-A spa gift certificate
-A hood hair dryer
-Clothes: dresses, jeans, tops
-Accessories: belts, purses, earrings (not expensive ones though because I constantly end up missing one - SEAN!), hair scarves, socks (I never think to get them for myself and my husband is tired of me "borrowing" his socks.) 
-Stationery
-A jewelry box
-An over the door shoe holder
-Drugstore gift cards (drugstores are to me what toy stores are to kids!) 

Posted by kdc521 at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"My" month has started off beautifully (and I say "my" because I get double celebrations - Mother's Day and my 35th birthday).

Last night, I had the opportunity to help make (and of course eat!) one of the best meals of my life (and I'm not exaggerating)...

Beth (from Role Mommy and BeyondPr) invited me and several other ladies to a special dinner/demonstration down at Select Italy's Soho Loft which was hosted by Kim Orlando AKA Traveling Mom.  It was an amazing experience primarily because there was so much passion in the room.  I love being around passionate people (and I don't mean those annoying, overly obvious public displays of affection type people passion - get a room!).  Anyway, I digress.  I'm talking about the type of passion where you're enthusiastic about your life and how you live it. 

Some of the people that I had the pleasure of meeting, cooking and eating with were the following:

-Beth Feldman: I really like Beth.  I've liked her since I went to my first Role Mommy event a few years ago.  She's just one of those warm, friendly moms who are so calm even though you know that they have a very full life.  Besides being a wife and mom, she is a co-founder of Role Mommy and recently she started her own business, BeyondPR - an entertainment public relations and talent consulting company.  (Did I mention that she cooked two turkeys and a chicken for Passover?!)

-Kim Orlando: I've never met anyone as passionate about family travel as Kim!  She made me want to get on a plane and go somewhere.  (Which is no small feat - as I tell my husband, "I like to get away with the kids, I just don't like to travel with them" -- in other words, if teleportation was a reality, we'd be traveling all over the world!)  I really hope that her vision for her TravelingMom.com site becomes a reality (we came up with "a tripadvisor for families" being a good goal).  In any event, if you're a mom who likes to travel, I definitely recommend visiting her site and become a part of that community.

-Andrea Sertoli: One of the few men at the event, he is the President of Select Italy.  Select Italy specializes in travel and vacation tours (including family-friendly ones!) to Italy.  Andrea's excitement about his native country (he was born in Rome) is so obvious that it's no surprise that he has been on Travel + Leisure's "A-List" of top travel agents for six years in a row!  (On a side note, a group of my single friends are currently on a European trip.  One emailed me today to say that they loved Italy.  I think that it's a sign that I need to visit Italy!)

In addition to Italian travel, Select Italy also offers cooking show classes down in Soho (like the one I attended).  They are so much fun!  We were able to help prepare some of the food as well as eat it.  There's something really bonding about cooking together.  I had a great time with (mostly) people I had met before and I kept thinking, "this would be such a great thing to do with a bunch of friends...).  It's not cheap (it's $130/person), but the experience is definitely worth saving up for.  At the end, you get a copy of the recipes in case you want to recreate them at home.  (I think that it's okay for me to share the recipes, so let me know if you'd like the recipe(s) for the following: Insalatina con quaglia su cestino di Grana Padano (mixed baby green salad with roasted quail in a Grana Padano cheese basket); Gnudi con salsa di formaggio (home made "Gnudi" pasta with cheese sauce); Pesce al Cartoccio (baked fish with eggplants and tomatoes) and Mousse ai Baci Perugina (Chocolate baci perugina mousse).  

In any event, Select Italy has a class on September 4th that I want to go to.  Mom in the City members, let me know if you'd like to come too - it will be a blast! The show runs from 6:00pm to 9:00pm (but my group got so "caught up" that we didn't leave until around 10). They also do catering and private cooking events if you're interested.

On another note, the chefs, Andrea Tiberi and Francescho Pellecchia of Eatalian Style were excellent!  They were funny, skillful (and adorable!).  Once I heard that Andrea, the head chef, had cooked for the Pope and the President of Italy, I knew that the meal would be wonderful (and I was right!).

There were other great women at the event that I wanted to write about because they are pursuing their passions, BUT this post is getting too long so I'll just link you to their sites: Barbara Jones of One2One Network; Gwendolen Gross, the author of The Other Mother; Rachael Herrscher of Today's Mama; Kelcey Kitner of the mamabird diaries (I met her twice in one week!) and Jeanne Muchnick  of So Little Time.

Posted by kdc521 at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My kids don't like yogurt, but maybe yours does. 

If so, visit Yoplait  until May 31st and complete their form.  They will mail you a full value coupon for their kids' yogurt.  (The coupons are not available for residents of the following states: California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota and Tennessee.)

Enjoy!

(Thanks to GoodyBlog for making me aware of this promotion.)

Posted by kdc521 at 02:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I love this adorable Anne Geddes styled photo on Flickr

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We will be giving away five copies of Barney: Hi! I’M Riff!

"Nothing beats being part of a club with your best friends! Barney and his friends sure know the feeling and invite children everywhere to join in on the fun in Hi! I’m Riff!, the latest title featuring everyone’s favorite purple dinosaur, available on DVD May 6, 2008 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and HIT Entertainment.

Barney’s new friend Riff is the first new dino to join Barney & Friends™ in 13 years. He is a six-year-old Hadrosaur and a one-of-a-kind kid! Riff is BJ and Baby Bop’s cousin, and he is all about music – music is in his voice, his heart and his every move! Riff also loves hanging out with his friends. Reveling in the time he spends with his pals, Riff decides to start a new club and invites everyone to join. It’s going to take lots of ideas – and some fun singing and dancing – to decide what kind of club is right for everyone."

 If you'd like to enter to win one of the dvds, leave your name in the "Comments" section below or send an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Riff" in the Subject line by May 31st.

Posted by kdc521 at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We will be giving away five copies of Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks.

"Bob the Builder™ and his Can-Do Crew welcome friends Meg MacDonald, a Scottish dairy farmer, her assistant Piper and their hilarious dairy truck Dodger to Sunflower Valley in five delightful new adventures in Bob the Builder: The Three Musketrucks, delivering onto DVD May 13, 2008 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and HIT Entertainment for a suggested retail price of $14.98."

 If you'd like to enter to win one of the dvds, leave your name in the "Comments" section below or send an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Bob" in the Subject line by May 31st. 

Posted by kdc521 at 10:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're giving away a copy of the funny yet insightful Peeing In Peace: Tales & Tips for Type A Moms. 

If you'd like to enter to win the book, leave your name in the "Comments" section below or send an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Peace" in the Subject line by May 31st. 

Posted by kdc521 at 10:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Belli Baby is giving away one of their popular Belli Baby Gift Sets.

  
If you'd like to enter to win the gift set, leave your name in the "Comments" section below or send an email to contests@mominthecity.com with "Gift Set" in the Subject line by May 31st. 

Posted by kdc521 at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

As you have all experienced by now, there is a huge push to "go green" during the month of April with Earth Day and the heightened awareness regarding the 3 Rs (reducing, recycling and reusing).

Well, I've taken it all in with a grain of salt and here's my personal list of what I WILL do and what I WON'T do for good old planet earth.  Most of my decisions were based on two great books (Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home and Big Green Purse)and one great website (Carbon Footprint).    (Of course as a woman and a mom, I'm free to change my mind at any time....)

WILL:
-eat less meat
-only shop for clothes, furniture and appliances as needed
-recycle
-take mass transit as much as possible
-use more earth-friendly cleaning products (like method)
-use a power strip (and remember to cut it off!) to save energy
-be more cautious of PVC in plastic toys
-take note of and support companies that are environmentally aware (i.e. Did you know that SunChips uses solar energy (70%) to help make their multigrain snacks?  It doesn't hurt that my son actually likes the taste too!)
-use a reusable tote (rather than plastic or paper bags) for groceries

(This is the tote that I have.  Isn't it cute?! AND it folds into its own little pocket so that I can easily take it with me.)

WON'T:
-only buy local, organic food
-buy secondhand clothes, furniture and appliances 
-compost
-make people take off their shoes when entering my home
-use all natural cosmetics and personal care products (like deodorant!)
-give up disposable diapers

If you'd like to enter to win a copy of Squeaky Green: The Method Guide to Detoxing Your Home and Big Green Purse, just leave one of your "wills" and "wont's" in the "Comments" section below (or email them to me at contests@mominthecity.com) by May 31st. 

Posted by kdc521 at 10:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Mom in the City readers can type "MOMCITY" at checkout for 20% off their first purchase of contact information at CollegeQuickJobs.com. 

"Here's some  information on how CollegeQuickJobs.com works:
You create a new account and post a job short-term job like babysitting, dog walking, tutoring, running errands, etc. for free.  Students from Columbia, Barnard, NYU and other top NYC colleges will then be able to see your job in our database and apply for it if they feel they are a good fit.  Once they apply, you'll be able to see their resumes and their profile picture (if available) for free.  If you like what you see, you can purchase the contact information (phone number and email address) of 3 students for $12.99 (and take the 20% discount using MOMCITY).  Then, you just call or email the students directly to arrange the final hiring details." 

Posted by kdc521 at 06:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once again, I can't think of two more things to make 7 (?!)... 

1. Cover Girl Lash Blast Mascara: My husband and two sons have long, beautiful lashes.  I don't.  Such is life.  Every few months, I try a new mascara.  This is my current favorite.  It actually makes my lashes look full (with no yucky clumps). 

2. Carnival Games by Global Star:  I like this Wii game that my son received for his birthday.  Of course he beats me at many of the games (he has incredible hand-eye coordination!).  I don't take it personally though -- he beats most visiting adults!  The only thing that I don't like about this software is that you can't choose a black or brown character to represent you like with the other Wii games.  They need to change that.  Other than that, it's really fun.  (Be forewarned that the carnival game "hosts" talk a lot of trash when you miss/don't win at games.)

3. Bloglines.com: Now, in addition to reading parenting/family magazines and newspapers, I'm really into reading blogs.  There are so many great blogs out there that I don't have the time/energy/inclination to visit each of them.  This free service is great.  You just put in the blogs/news sites/etc. urls that you like and they give you a brief synopsis of current posts.  That way, I can skim and see what I really want to read.  I love technology!

4. Tabletops Unlimited Swirl Multicolor Pattern:  When we were at the Jersey Shore, the place that we stayed had this tableware.  It's cute and inexpensive.  I found it online at Replacement Ltd.

5. Zappos.com: My four year old son has wide feet (blame me, not his dad).  So, when Stride Rite doesn't have any cute shoes for the season in his size (11W), I find myself in a bind.  I wasn't having much luck online until I hit shoe pay dirt at Zappos.  They had multiple pairs of cute athletic shoes in his size (he, my husband and I all had different favorites - we went with my husband's pick).  Of course, after making my pick I did a google search for "zappos coupons".  There are none - ever.  They don't charge for shipping though, so that (somewhat) makes up for that. 

Posted by kdc521 at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Yesterday, I attended a Mommy Mastermind event entitled " 10 New Tech Things to Try Today: Become More Skilled and Efficient on the Web". While the kids played in the NY Kids Club gym, we parents listened to a presentation by speaker Sree Sreenivasan, WNBC-TV's technology reporter and Columbia Journalism School professor and dean.

It was very informative.  It's amazing to see how much FREE open source resources are out there on the web.  You can find the handout of the tips here.  There were topics for everyone (health, money, real estate, music, blogging, etc.)

The other great thing about attending "networking" events like these are that you get to put faces to names of people that you communicate with online.  For instance, I met Jessica from Tot Stops who has sponsored a past Mom in the City giveaway (thanks for the website designer referral Jessica!).  I also met another blogger, Kelcey Kintner of the mamabird diaries and her two adorable kids.

(On another note, I liked the club -- so we'll probably be having an event there in the near future!)

Posted by kdc521 at 09:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back!!! Perhaps you are like me and loved them when you were a kid. I felt like a kid all over again watching this movie. The chipmunks lose their home to loggers and end up in LA where they run into David Seville, a struggling musician/songwriter. After causing complete havoc in Dave’s home, they get booted to the street, but win him over with their lovable and catchy songs. Dave sees dollar signs all over their singing ability and brings them to his producer, Ian. After their career takes off, Dave begins to realize what is truly important: the stability of this new family and the chipmunks’ well being. You would never believe that in this hilarious ride some really amazing lessons are taught. Not only did my kids laugh the whole time, they also learned the importance of limits, of listening and of love. This is one of the few movies I love to watch over and over again with my kids. There is some mild rude humor, but over all it is a big winner in my family.
(Review by Lesley Thompson)

Lesley Thompson is originally from Houston, TX. She came to New York in 1989 to attend NYU where she received her B.A. in English. She is married to her wonderful husband Marc and is a full-time mom of two boys Joshua and David. Lesley has recently started back down the writing path and is eager to see what the future holds.

Posted by kdc521 at 09:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Because I am a mom and I work as a parenting writer, I get a lot of questions.  I'll start answering some of them here on the blog.  Following are a couple of recent questions (and answers):

Question #1: My one year old only wants me to hold her.  She screams whenever I leave the room (even when someone else is there with her) except for when I leave her with the babysitter. (This is a mom who works outside of the home,)

My answer: "That's normal" (that's part of my answer for almost every question!).  She's just going through her "attachment phase".  When given a choice, she's going to choose you.  Don't worry...she'll grow out of it in a few months.

(My answer was confirmed by a May 2008 Parenting magazine article entitled "When only one parent will do" that you can read here.)

Question #2: How do you talk to young kids about death?  (This was actually a question that came up because I didn't attend a wake along with my husband, because I didn't want to have the "death" talk with my inquisitive 4 year old.  A mom friend asked me to let her know what I found out about "the talk" because she also has an inquisitive 4 year old.)

Answer: I didn't have one, but the May 2008 issue of Cookie magazine had an article all about responding to five common questions that children ask about death.  The article is entitled, "a loss for words".  In the piece, common questions were directed towards bereavement specialists/authors Maria Trozzi and Dr. Donna Schuurman.  I recommend reading the magazine article (page 90) (I couldn't find a web link.)  Overall, "The younger the kid, the simpler the answer" was the prevailing wisdom.

Posted by kdc521 at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I took my four year old son to see A (Tooth) Fairy Tale.  Theatre is one of my favorite perks of living in the city and this was such a great little play!

Basically, the story is about a little boy (Samuel) who does not like following rules.  After setting a trap and catching The Tooth Fairy, Samuel trades places with her for a while.  (The Tooth Fairy was tired of doing the same old thing and needed a vacation herself!)  Of course, the role changes lead to some mishaps, but all ends well. 

All of the actors and actresses did a great job, but I think that the main reason I liked the play is that the Upper West Side was one of the focal points.  (The Upper West Side was the first place that I lived in Manhattan - as a student at Columbia - and it is still my absolute favorite part of Manhattan.  If I ever hit the lottery (which I don't play?!) that's where I would live as long as possible!)   I also liked the fact that the cast signed the kids' programs after the show. 

In any event, if you get the chance, I recommend seeing a Vital Theatre Company production.

Posted by kdc521 at 09:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Following are a few things that I have found noteworthy on the web:

-Cool Mom Picks (a cool site run be at least one cool mom -- I've only met one of them) has put out their second annual Mother's Day Gift Guide here

-Work It, Mom!, a community for working moms, turned 1 in April.  Happy Birthday and congrats to Nataly (we were in a Daily News article together) and her team!

-I'm also excited to be attending an event this week being hosted by Mommy Mastermind, a new resource for at-home (and work-at-home) moms with young kids.

and lastly,

-I've been reading a lot of positive things about Savvy Source for Parents lately.  It is a site that does preschool ratings and reviews.  (I'm so happy that my son Michael already has his "spot" secured for September - yay!  I realize that this is only a major accomplishment in NYC/other highly populated urban areas...)

Posted by kdc521 at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If your family likes ice cream (like mines!), don't miss the two following events:

-04/29/2008: Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day - Be sure to stop by and get your free cone!  (Check their site to find a participating scoop shop.)

-04/30/2008: 31 Cent Scoop Night at Baskin-Robbins - Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream scoops to 31 cents in honor America’s firefighters.  (At some locations, they will be collecting donations for local fire charities.)

Posted by kdc521 at 10:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I won't be doing a Mother's Day Gift Guide (there are just too many types of moms who like such a wide variety of things!) but I will highlight cute/unique/fun gift ideas as I come across them.

Here's one that I really like (especially if the mom lives in the NYC area):

FameSlot will help to make May 11th memorable for moms by allowing you to send a photo of mom along with a short message to be shown on the giant Reuters screens at Times Square. (Mom's photo and your message will appear for at least 5 seconds.)

(On a side note, if you type "fameslot discount" into Google before purchasing this gift, you will find a couple of sites offering $5 to $15 discount codes.)

Posted by kdc521 at 09:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reuters ran a great article entitled "If your mom's your best friend, who's your mother?". 

In the article, five types of mothers are mentioned (perfectionist, unpredictable, me first, complete and best-friend).  The group that clinical psychologist and author Stephan Poulter finds that is on the rise is "best-friend mothers" who are mothers who want to be best friends with their children.

The article points out that these types of moms can mess up boundaries and leave their kids with a lack of guidance. (Of course, Lindsay Lohan's mom is used as an example.)

Personally, I'm not a big fan of labels.  I would like to think of myself as a "complete" mom, but then I have to laugh.  Complete makes me think of being finished / having arrived.  I do my best (like most moms that I know) but I think that motherhood is one area of life that you never "arrive".  That's what makes parenting such an adventure to me ...as soon as I have a "system" down, something changes and we're back at the drawing board!

I must agree though that I see a lot of moms who would rather be their kid's friend more than anything else.  I do think that is dangerous.  Kids need (and want!) boundaries, discipline and direction.  I hate when I see young kids running their homes/calling the shots. I'm not trying to be judgmental, but I really do think that parents who allow their kids to do so (under the guise of "friendship") are setting themselves up for some serious head and heartaches when their kids grow up. 

Ultimately, I don't think that it's an either/or (parent/friend) decision.  I think that if we do our best at being a good parent, then the majority of time we will also be our child's friend (and if not, oh well!  Hopefully, they'll have many other friends in life.).

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Fark.com ran in interesting survey.  You can take it here.

The survey question is: "If you could go back to being 20, what characteristic or belief would you instill in yourself to make your life better?"

Wow, for me 20 was almost 15 years ago.  I was a sophomore at Columbia thinking that the world was mine's.   

Looking back, I wish that I could have made myself grasp the concept of "making the most of every opportunity".  I look back and see so many connections/relationships that I could have built/maintained that would have helped me in a variety of ways later in life (i.e. I didn't follow up on calls from Spike Lee's production company regarding a pitch that I had sent them; I didn't follow up regarding working for Dustin Hoffman's office after being his babysitter for a short time, etc., etc. - DUH!).  I also see many experiences that I chose not to participate in (primarily travel, which is much easier to do before you "settle down" and have multiple kids).

Then again, who knows?  Perhaps if I had made the most of every opportunity then I would have missed out on the life I have now, which would be a tragedy.  Remembering my 20 years old self, I probably wouldn't have listened to the (almost) 35 years old me anyway.  (Isn't it funny how when you're 20, the 30s seem so old?!)

Posted by kdc521 at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

snark·y  sarcastic or disrespectful; snide.   

Personally, I don't (or at least I try not to) do snarky writing.  I must admit though that some writers do it so well (and for the most part good-naturedly) that it makes me howl with laughter.

For instance, Jezebel.com (one of my new favorite sites) has this article entitled Parenting Author, Childless Woman Weigh In On Baby Couture.  It is about a new upscale magazine, Baby Couture, which has the slogan, "We put the 'coo' in couture."  I love, love, love magazines so I was eager to read their review. 

A few of the lines from the article that had me laughing:

-The Editor's letter begins, "I am what I've coined a 'serial miserablist.'" I stopped reading after that.

-Cayden, Aiden, Braydon, Jayden. Will and Jada, look what you started! Please make this whole trend go away.

-Black kid! Redhead kid! Baby Couture is officially more diverse than Vogue.

In any event, I'd still pick up the magazine.  I'm sure that I'll find something helpful/useful in it.

Posted by kdc521 at 11:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We just got back home from going on a mini family vacation at the Jersey shore.  My husband and oldest son didn't want to come back, but all good things must come to an end.

It's amazing how bonding it is to get away from everything and everyone for a few days and just focus on the family.  My oldest son Michael was joined at the hip with his Dad while my baby Sean and I were able to get some one on one time for us.  Michael is a (relatively) well mannered kid anyway, but while we were away, he was like "superkid" - no meltdowns, sharing with his baby brother, clearing the table for everyone, etc.  (My husband and I kept asking, "Can we take this kid home with us?")  It was also fun to see Sean's little personality coming through.  He's a little dance machine.  He kept turning the dial on the radio and every time that it actually landed on music, he just threw his hands in the air and moved his whole little body all over the place (so cute!).

Our favorite parts of the trip were:

-The Boardwalk: Michael was able to play the live versions of some of the Wii Carnival games that he loves.  I was also able to introduce him to the "ancient" game of Pac-man.

- The Cape May County Park and Zoo: This place was by far my favorite family-friendly zoo.  All of the animals were so near (yet safe) that the kids could see them up close.  It's also easy to walk around and see everything without exhausting the kids.  My husband and I were just as excited as Michael and Sean.  They also had a reasonably priced cafe area to eat lunch.  After, the zoo and lunch, we went to the park (which was equipped for young toddlers to older kids).  This place was so great and did I mention that it was free/donations only?!  My husband and I kept saying, "It would be so great to have something like this in the city".  Of course we have the Central Park Zoo (much smaller), the Bronx Zoo (much bigger - impossible to see everything in a day), etc. but they don't compare.   

And

-The food: It may just be that everything tastes better when I don't have to cook it.  Everything tasted so fresh and flavorful.  It's probably good that we're back so that I can go back on my Weight Watchers plan! 

In any event, a great time was had by all and it is good to be back.

Posted by kdc521 at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I recently read a Newsweek article about an upcoming children's book on plastic surgery, My Beautiful Mommy! which was written by Michael Salzhauer, M.D. a board-certified plastic surgeon in Bal Harbour, Fla.   

Basically, the pictures and text are supposed to help young kids (ages four to seven) deal with their mom's physical changes.  In the book, a little girl goes with her mom to a cosmetic surgery consultation with the goal of mom becoming "prettier" by having a nose job and tummy tuck.  The mom also gets a breast job which is shown in the pictures but not mentioned in the writing. (You can see images from the book and a more detailed description at Newsweek.com.)

Granted, there are many women who have these types of cosmetic surgery procedures and who have children that ask questions.  However, this book's concept just seems wrong to me.  Little girls already have so many negative body image issues being thrown at them from media and society already.  I just don't see how mom bringing this book home helps.  Am I wrong???

Anyway, this book is supposed to be released on Mother's Day.  How ironic -- I guess the author thinks that a cosmetic "mommy makeover" would make the perfect gift.  I think not!

Posted by kdc521 at 01:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have wanted to see the Enchanted movie since last month, but I couldn't convince my husband or older son to watch it with me.  (It's times like these that make me want a girl...or at least to borrow one!)

In any event, after hearing Judi from A Baby Boomer's Life After Fifty rave about the movie while we were on a panel together, I decided to stay up and watch it after everyone was down for the night.  I'm so glad that I did.  It was great!

I liked how the movie seamlessly combined animation with live action.  One moment, it's a traditional Disney fairy tale.  Shortly after, the soon-to-be princess (Giselle) ends up in Times Square.  All of the live action actors and actresses did a great job, especially Patrick Dempsey (he's so handsome!) and Susan Sarandon (she's one of my favorite actresses anyway). 

I won't give away the whole storyline, because I think that in this instance it's more fun to see it unfold without knowing what's going to happen next.  I will say that the things that I liked the most were the music.  I especially liked "True Love's Kiss" which reminded me of my wedding day -- the first time that I kissed my husband on the lips.  I also liked "That’s How You Know" which reminded me to do those special little things to make sure that my husband knows how much I love him.  I also liked the ending which was a refreshing girl-friendly alternative to the stereotypical prince saving the "damsel in distress".  I highly recommend this movie (even if you have boys and husbands that don't want to see it with you - you'll enjoy it by yourself!).

Posted by kdc521 at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last Thursday, I was invited to speak on a panel about bloggers at Johnson & Johnson's Consumer Day.  I was psyched because the other bloggers have blogs (A Baby Boomer's Life After Fifty, Notes from the Trenches, and City Wendy) that are much more established than mines.  For me, it's always good to be able to learn from people who are farther along than I am in any area of life.

In any event, I took a car service out to Somerset, NJ and had a great lunch.  We were on the panel all of a good 15 minutes (if you blinked, you would have missed us) but at least we were able to speak with some of the audience members afterwards.  Normally, I would have been annoyed (the travel time ended up being longer than the actual event) but I was able to meet three great bloggers and get some helpful tips...especially from Chris of Notes from the Trenches.  (I'm such a rookie - twitter; second life; widgets; bloglines.com; truncating blogs, etc., etc. - I have a lot to learn about blogging!)  I was also able to get a good referral for a blog design company.  So, I decided that instead of a spa day for my birthday next month, I'll get the blog redesigned (OR I'll convince my husband that this is a legitimate "business expense" and get both ).

Posted by kdc521 at 09:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

After all of the partying that we've been doing lately, inevitably my kids got sick.  With my younger son Sean it was a pretty mild cold (runny nose).  Michael (my four year old) had a tougher time.  Usually, I let the kids' colds run their course.  (I'm not a big fan of medicating kids.)  However, this time Michael had a stuffy nose/ sneezing/ a really bad cough/ etc., so my dear husband went to the store to get a multi-purpose cold formula for him. 

To my surprise, he called me and said that besides the Vick's Children's Nyquil, the cold medicines recommended doctor approval for kids under six.  Since I didn't want to either put my kid to sleep with medicine or bother my doctor, we just got the PediaCare® Children's Long-Acting Cough medicine (since the cough was the thing that was keeping him up).  When my husband came home, I started doing some research about cold medicine for kids.  (It's still weird to me that you can "knock your kid out" with Nyquil but should not use other cold medicines without your doctor's approval.)

It turns out that back in 2007 a panel recommended that popular over-the-counter cold and cough medicines should not be used for children who are 2 to 5 years old.  (There's a great article about it here.)

It simply goes to show that information can be out there but until it applies directly to my life (i.e. kid with a cold), I don't necessarily think about it.  (I vaguely remember there being a big "to do" about the panel's recommendation in the news last year.)

Posted by kdc521 at 05:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)